{"id":2428,"date":"2026-02-21T00:27:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerowalsh.com\/cr\/?p=2428"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:24:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:24:03","slug":"fri-20th-feb-trek-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/?p=2428","title":{"rendered":"Fri 20th Feb – Trek Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DW: We have internet tonight and some downtime, so are doing Day 1 of the trek as a single post. We may or may not be doing the same tomorrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CR: Today is day one of a tour that we booked last minute after the Laotian one fell through. There are three days in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The running procedures of the tour are extremely unclear. Our main piece of information is that it was one of the more expensive options from Chiang Rai. A key confusion was that we were staying in really basic accommodation (euphemistically referred to as ‘homestay’) so we’d have to bring things like soap and a towel, etc. But then no where on the website did it say whether we’d need to hike with all this gear. This caused stress when packing. I need to wash myself but I also don’t want to hike in the jungle carrying a bath towel. Anyway. Needless to say… Stressful (DW: this is why whenever Caitlin proposes camping as an activity I am dubious that she is actually capable of it. Her idea of camping obviously needs a coffee machine, three pots, two pans and five books.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our guide picks us up from the hotel in a tuktuk and we go to Activity One (elephants). This is obviously fun. Then Activity Two is jungle trek. Trek is really Trek not ‘trek’. A second guide joins us. That’s when you know you’re about to be worked hard: when your guide has a guide. Not to worry, this man who meets us for Trek is known for his impeccable reputation as a porter. He confidently declares of all the many tourists he has taken out trekking in the Northern Jungle he’s not lost one yet. He also carries a machete to bush bash. Machete life is big in the hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DW: Over dinner we discover Caitlin may be the first Australian woman to have completed Trek according to our guide. I am beeming with pride. Then we discover the motorcycle cheat code Caitlin used to avoid carrying her Ottolenghi tote full of random stuff [CR: not random – clothes] was a once-off and definitely not an option tomorrow. I worry for who has to carry the tote…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DW: Rain last night stymied our Bua Loy desert. Thankfully it cleared up as we began our day proper.
CR: I look back on this breakfast now as a pinnacle of comfort and good fortune.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: A cuddle never hurt anyone. We’re told about 20 times that we are not being forced to ride the elephants. “No one can say we forced you to ride.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: Bad news Cait. She was definitely flirting with me.
CR: And in fact we don’t ride the elephants. We drive them. And only for 10 minutes a day maybe 30 minutes sometimes an hour if necessary a few hours only.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Declan prepares Banana stem for his hungry audience. I do some too but am not feeling comfortable with the machete. This is a man’s tool. All I can visualise while chopping is my finger lying dismembered on the floor in front of me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Satisfied customers.
DW: The experience ended with me mounting the elephant Mahout style. Caitlin noted she lacked the physical coordination to attempt this and so I was volunteered in her place. I was uncertain if this was disrespectful or abusive to the elephants. It felt unclear.  The confusing aspect is that these elephants obviously have a better and more fulfilled life than those at Taronga. Those elephants trample the same grassless patch everyday all day. These elephants go up and down hills looking for food. They couldn’t find the male elephant for a while and then when they did bring him down from the jungle he just kind of walked off to some trees on the other side of the river instead of doing activities. The basic enrichment seems to be the same (Taronga takes pride that they can get their elephants to raise their legs for an inspection, this seems the exact same motion Mahouts use to climb onto the back). I think if I was by myself I wouldn’t have done it and still gotten a similar amount out of it, but don’t regret my choice. Also, elephant hairs are really stiff all over their body which makes them an interesting texture to touch.
CR: I really wanted to but again saw only broken limbs in my future.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Trek. It would have been impossible to do this without a guide. There were some trails. There were some areas without trail. We stop at one area and are told it used to be a village. No longer. It was left because there were too many people growing and smoking opium. And the police came and cleared it out. Or the police moved the villagers because they were growing opium? Translation often is a bit of a vibe thing. In the end while we are leaving elephants someone on a motorcycle comes up and the guide gives him her bag and I practically beg for my bag to be taken to our accommodation too. Declan remains stoic and carries everything he has in his own pack. About an hour into Trek he is clearly suffering.
DW: We’ll see who has the last laugh tomorrow. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: This is me towards the end of a very long three hours of Trek. I am drenched in sweat and exhausted and have a pounding headache. You can probably feel my trepidation about having to do this for another two days when you look at my pained smile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: The purpose of this seemingly discarded pile of plastic bottles is apparently fire fighting. They are (may be) filled with water and people presumably carry them into the jungle and pour them on embers or the flanks of a fire. Maybe this is covered in one of the RFS courses I haven’t done yet. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: We arrive the village of the minority Akha people. It kind of just looks like any modern rural South East Asian village, which I guess actually makes sense. I had previously assumed these minority hill tribes had been there for a thousand years or so and given that time to develop their unique culture. We found out they are actually just Tibetan\/South Chinese refugees from 80 years ago apparently. Which seems way too recent.
CR: From what we can ascertain they lived in the jungle until the jungle just sort of got desecrated away as the clan got bigger and that is how hill tribe village is born.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: I have always and will always hate homestay. We are sharing a big thatched room with our guide. Room is by no measure sealed. Do we all get wet if it rains? Also, cats. Cats come in because the walls don’t meet the ground. At the entrance is some dried thatch that chickens have made a coop in. Walking up to the room you hear little clucks. Bedding is sketchy futons with mosquito nets drawn over them. Shower is cold and in the same room as the toilet with nowhere to put your clean clothes while you shower. Hordes of birds of all different vocal capacities roam: turkey, chicken, goose, ducks. I am frightened and uncomfortable and have nowhere to hide.
DW: We all love the roosting chook at the door. They are very welcoming and I would love an equivalent at our house. The cats can go, no-one likes cats. Homestay is a critical part of trip. Many of you may know one of my key goals in life is to keep Caitlin grounded. Homestay is an important experience to know what you can actually handle and how people actually live. Also, it is not that bad at all here.
CR: I dispute this about ‘how people live’. Homestay is to make tourists suffer for their sins of wealth. The owner actually lives 200 meters away in what I can only imagine is a jungle palace with a hot tub and soap. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: Caitlin was in charge of occassionally stirring the pot and did an amazing job.
CR: While we are eating I ask, “why are there so many firecrackers?” Guide gives quizzical look. “What is that sound?” I try again. “Gunshots.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elephant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thailand-laos-cambodia-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2428"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2511,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2428\/revisions\/2511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}